Image capture devices for autonomous mobile robots and related systems and methods

An autonomous cleaning robot comprising:

• a drive system to support the autonomous cleaning robot above a floor surface, the drive system being operable to maneuver the autonomous cleaning robot about the floor surface;
• an image capture device positioned on the autonomous cleaning robot to capture imagery of a portion of the floor surface forward of the autonomous cleaning robot;
• and
• a controller operably connected to the drive system and the image capture device, wherein the controller is configured to execute instructions to perform operations comprising:
• maneuvering the autonomous cleaning robot at a first speed along a first portion of the floor surface toward a second portion of the floor surface, the second portion of the floor surface having a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface,
• detecting that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface based on the imagery captured by the image capture device, and
• after detecting that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface, maneuvering the autonomous cleaning robot at a second speed along the first portion of the floor surface toward the second portion of the floor surface, wherein the second speed is greater than zero and different than the first speed.

An autonomous cleaning robot comprising:

• a drive system to support the autonomous cleaning robot above a floor surface, the drive system being operable to maneuver the autonomous cleaning robot about the floor surface;
• and
• a controller operably connected to the drive system, wherein the controller is configured to execute instructions to perform operations comprising:
• maneuvering the autonomous cleaning robot at a first speed along a first portion of the floor surface toward a second portion of the floor surface, the second portion of the floor surface having a lower elevation than the first portion of the floor surface,
• detecting that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface and that the autonomous cleaning robot is within a distance from the second portion of the floor surface, and
• after detecting that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface and that the autonomous cleaning robot is within the distance from the second portion of the floor surface, maneuvering the autonomous cleaning robot at a second speed along the first portion of the floor surface, wherein the second speed is greater than zero and different than the first speed.

A method comprising:

• maneuvering an autonomous cleaning robot at a first speed along a first portion of a floor surface toward a second portion of the floor surface, the second portion of the floor surface having a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface;
• detecting, using an image capture device positioned on the autonomous cleaning robot to capture imagery of a portion of the floor surface forward of the autonomous cleaning robot, that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface;
• and
• after detecting that the second portion of the floor surface has a different elevation than the first portion of the floor surface, maneuvering the autonomous cleaning robot at a second speed along the first portion of the floor surface toward the second portion of the floor surface, wherein the second speed is greater than zero and different than the first speed.